Of Demons and Roses
Chapter 11: Youko
Kurama's spirit energy had risen dramatically. He is able to change himself Youko when his spirit energy reaches a certain point. This usually happens when Kurama is greatly angered. He doesn't turn Youko often because it takes something really big to anger him like that.
Nobara was in awe of Kurama's new form. This is the first time she'd seen Kurama as a Youko. Hiei's worry had left him when he saw Kurama. He knew that Kurama would have the advantage now with his boost in spirit energy. Nobara could feel the rise in Kurama's spirit energy too.
"Well well, what do we have here?" Kokuei more said than asked. Kurama gazed at his opponent. He was about to say something, but his thought process was cut off by the sudden happenings to two events.
Kokuei sensed that the tower was about to break. So to keep Kurama distracted, he charged at him. At the same time, the tower was falling down. Knowing that Kurama was busy with Kokuei, and not wanting to distract Hiei, Nobara decided to ride a piece of the broken tower down to the ground. A few feet before hitting the ground, Nobara leapt off and landed on her feet, right next to her father. Hiei had his guard up, but wanted to see if Nobara could work her way out of that mess. He was proud she did.
Meanwhile, the battle between Kurama and Kokuei went on. Both of them were fighting at maximum strength and took to the offensive.
"Your daughter is very crafty. She takes after someone I know," said Kokuei with mockery in his voice. "She will be a fun opponent."
"Not if I kill you first," was Kurama's answer. There was a split second where Kokuei was distracted by Kurama's words. There came Kurama's advantage.
Kurama took out his rose whip and used it to snatch Kokuei's axe out of his hand. It went flying out of reach, rendering it useless to Kokuei. Then, at such close range, Kurama used his long sharp nails to pierce Kokuei's skin. After that, he sent Kokuei flying with a hard punch to the stomach. All this happened within a matter of seconds.
Kokuei was down, but not out. He lay on his back in the spot where he landed for a couple minutes, trying to fool Kurama into dropping his guard. When he realized it didn't work, he got up. He was considerably weaker than before. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and he had many scrapes and bruises.
"You're better than I expected. I was wrong to underestimate you Kurama," Kokuei said as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Heh... you're smarter than I thought you were," replied Kurama.
"You're right on the money on that one fox," said Kokuei with an evil smile on his face.
Just as he finished speaking, he slipped into the shadows to hide himself. Only this time was different. Kokuei hid himself better than he ever did before. It was almost as if he disappeared. Kurama tried to find him, but couldn't sense his spirit energy. Neither could Hiei or Nobara.
Unexpectedly, Kokuei popped out of the shadows behind Kurama with extraordinary speed. Kurama had little time to move, and Kokuei stabbed him in the stomach area. Luckily, Kurama was able to move so the no vital organs were hit. Just as swiftly, Kokuei returned back into the shadows, leaving the injured Kurama standing alone again.